The use of electrical resistance heaters to heat air or other fluids is well known in the prior art. For clothes dryers, it is common to use a ribbon or helical coils to heat the air prior to its entry into the dryer drum. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a prior art heater assembly designated by the reference numeral 100 that is typically used in a clothes dryer application. The heater assembly typically sits in a well in the heater and air is drawn over the heater ribbon and into the clothes drying drum.
The heater assembly 100 is usually made with two pieces of mica board 101 and 103 that provide electrical isolation of the heater ribbon 105. The heater ribbon is woven through openings 107 in mica board 101 with the other mica board 103 placed adjacent to mica board 101 to sandwich the segments of the heater ribbon passing between the openings 107 and underneath the top mica board. The mica boards are held together with eyelets 109. Other fasteners such as pop rivets, screws and the like have also been used. One end 111 of the assembly includes a terminal assembly 113 for supplying power to the heater ribbon.
These prior art heater assemblies have some problems in that they are large in size and are somewhat flimsy due to their free ends. As such, a need exists to provide improved heater assemblies for these types of applications as well as other heating applications. The present invention responds to this need by providing an improved heater assembly.